Because Luo Zhensheng's wedding date was set for October 22, it would be too late to set off on September 20. Luo Zhenxing was in charge of household affairs, and Qian Ming was in charge of external affairs. Although the first wife was ill in bed, the eldest master still decided to return to Yuhang on the 20th, and Luo Zhenda from the third room accompanied him all the way.

Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang went to see the master off.

Because they were going back to preside over the wedding, the Xu family gave the eldest master a gift of 100 taels of silver as a ceremony, and also gave a gift of 300 taels of silver. Xu Lingyi himself gave another 100 taels of silver as a gift to the bride, and Xu Lingning and Xu Lingkuan each gave 60 taels as a gift. The Tai Madam, the Second Madam, the Third Madam, and the Fifth Madam gave jewelry. Eleventh Lady gave a few more pieces of jewelry than the Tai Madam and the others.

When she got home, Amber couldn't help but smile bitterly while holding the money box: "Miss, there are only fifty taels left! I will have to add another box for Miss Seven in a few days."

Eleventh Lady was also very distressed.

The eldest wife did not give her a single penny as a dowry. On the day of the recognition, she received a lot of valuable jewelry, but she could only look at them and not touch them.

She remembered that Fifth Aunt had pawned the red gold bracelet after breaking it up... She said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "If that doesn't work, we can just pawn it as jewelry, right?"

Amber's face turned pale: "It would be terrible if someone found out about this."

Eleventh Lady then asked about Yang Huizu and Yu Lu's wife.

Amber said hurriedly: "...The man called Yang Huizu now makes a living by bringing handkerchiefs and green flowers to the maids in the courtyard. I heard that Gan Laoquan, who is in front of the Third Madam, approached him and wanted him to help manage the kitchen. He refused. His wife had a quarrel with him, and he slapped his wife twice. His wife has been shouting that she wants to commit suicide these days. Everyone in the group room is waiting to see the fun!"

Eleventh Lady was slightly stunned: "Do you know why he didn't go?"

"I don't know." Amber said, "I tried to ask, and everyone in the group room said that Yang Huizu is a man of few words, but he is very reliable when doing things, so everyone likes to ask him for help when they have something to do."

Eleventh Lady asked Wei Lu's wife, "How is she?"

Amber said hurriedly, "I heard that she is very close to the young master's wet nurse. There is a rumor that she will be in charge of the laundry room in a few days. Madam Cai, who used to be in charge of the laundry room, is now jumping up and down, very anxious."

"Just be careful!" Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "It's a good opportunity to take this opportunity to see what kind of personality each person has. Then we'll know which person is best suited for which position in the future!"

Amber nodded repeatedly, and Tao's mother came.

"...The menu that Fifth Madam sent to Third Madam includes some common side dishes as well as some expensive dishes. In turn, it will cost about 120 taels of silver." He handed a list to Eleventh Madam, "I drafted one according to it. Do you think it's feasible?"

Eleventh Lady did not answer, but asked her: "How much silver do you want?"

Mother Tao said, "About one hundred taels of silver - after all, the fifth room now has one person eating and two people supporting!"

Eleventh Lady nodded and said, "Then make a list of eighty taels of silver and report it to Third Madam."

Mother Tao looked embarrassed: "This is too low. In this family, besides the Madam and the Marquis, you are the eldest!"

Eleventh Lady felt that Mother Tao was too competitive, which was sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing: "Who eats Buddha Jumps Over the Wall every day?"

Mother Tao knew that she was showing weakness, and after thinking about it, she felt that what she said made sense. She smiled, bowed, and retreated, re-drafted the list and reported it to the third lady.

Wan Yizong wrote back to her: "... the farm of 500 mu is a sloping land, and the farm of 300 mu is a sandy land. The two farms are only about ten feet apart."

"Slope? Sandy ground?" Eleventh Lady was very surprised: "And it's only about ten feet away?"

Wan Yizong nodded, "The field in the middle belongs to a family surnamed Liu. I have also asked the former manager of the farm. The sandy land was originally used to grow peanuts, and the sloping land was used to grow jujubes." He looked a little uncomfortable as he spoke, "We grow paddy fields over there. This is the first time I have seen peanut and jujube trees."

Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly.

Not to mention him, even Liu Yuanrui and Chang Jiuhe might have seen it for the first time.

After a long silence, Eleventh Lady said, "If I asked you to take care of it, how confident are you that you can do it well?"

Wan Yizong did not express his opinion, but only said: "I will do my best."

Eleventh Lady had never been involved in farm work, and at this moment she was also worried about what to do. She went to Mother Tao to discuss: "Is there anyone good at farming at home?"

"The affairs of the farm belong to the outer court."

"There are several study rooms at home."

"There is a large study in the outer courtyard, a half-moon pavilion in the back garden, a small study in your room, and a study in each of the rooms of the Third Master and the Fifth Master. The First Young Master and the Second Young Master each have a study."

"Help me see if there are any books about farming." He added, "Something like 'The Exploitation of the Works of Nature'."

Mother Tao nodded and asked several servants in charge of the study, but they couldn't find it. One of them even said, "How can farming be worth writing a book about?"

Eleventh Lady had no choice but to ask Wan Yizong: "Go to the surrounding area and see what people are growing and how is the harvest?"

There was some hesitation in Wan Yizong's expression.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Just say whatever you want to say. Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang!"

Wan Yizong carefully observed Shiyi Niang's expression and said, "I heard that the sandy land and the sloping land originally belonged to the Liu family. The old man of the Liu family used to be an official and was exempted from land tax. But last year, the old man died, and the income from the sandy land and the sloping land was not enough to pay the land tax. So the Liu family sold the two plots of land."

Eleventh Lady had long guessed that the harvest from her two farms would not be very good, but it was so low... Fortunately, she was not a person who would avoid difficulties.

"You used to grow rice in paddy fields. From the same piece of land, some people produced 80 kilograms of rice, while others produced 100 kilograms of rice." She looked at Wan Yizong and said indifferently.

Wan Yizong's expression froze, and he lowered his head: "I'll go ask around now."

Eleventh Lady showed a look of satisfaction.

Wan Yizon blushed and left in a hurry.

Eleventh Lady kept thinking about this matter that day, and occasionally looked a little dazed.

On the way back from dinner at the Madam's, Xu Lingyi suddenly asked her, "Has there been any change in your mother-in-law's condition?"

Eleventh Lady didn't know why he asked these questions, so she smiled and said, "No. I sent Amber to check on him today, and she said he can eat porridge now."

Xu Lingyi said nothing.

At night, when Shiyi Niang blew out the lights and lay down, Xu Lingyi suddenly asked, "I see you are worried, what happened?"

This is not something that can be accomplished by just being brave.

She told Xu Lingyi about the farm.

Xu Lingyi said "Oh", then lay down and fell asleep.

After Eleventh Lady talked for a while, she felt much better and fell asleep quickly.

Who knew that not long after Xu Lingyi left the next day, Manager Bai suddenly asked for a meeting.

Eleventh Lady was shocked.

What does Manager Bai want to see her about?

He had a vague feeling that it was most likely Xu Lingyi who had said something to him.

She invited Manager Bai to sit in the hall.

As expected, Chief Steward Bai had received Xu Lingyi's order to help her solve the farm issue: "...The person in charge of the farm in our mansion is Steward Jia. He has gone to Tianjin to collect rent and will be back in two days. When the time comes, I will send him to take a look at your farm and discuss with you what to plant."

Eleventh Lady politely served tea to the guest, and her mood immediately became cheerful.

Although this farm is not good, it is his after all. If there is a good harvest, he can support several concubines and he will not have to worry about money.

She is very short of money now.

Amber was also very happy and told her excitedly: "Madam, it's exactly two quarters before pm."

It's time to go and pay your respects to the lady.

During this period, Shiyi Niang always arrived at the Madam's place at 15 minutes before noon. She also brought with her the list of people who stayed in Yuanniang's courtyard and those who were transferred to her own courtyard.

When I arrived at the lady's place, the third and fifth ladies had not yet arrived.

Mother Du asked her to go in first.

Eleventh Lady refused: "I'd better wait here!"

Who wants to meet people with messy hair?

Seeing this, Mother Du could not help but nod secretly, thinking that Eleventh Lady was a well-behaved person. She smiled and said, "Madam Tai is old and doesn't sleep much, so she woke up a long time ago. She specially asked me to invite you in."

After hearing this, Eleventh Lady followed Mother Du into the house.

The Madam was leaning on the big pillow drinking tea. When she saw Eleventh Lady, she called Wei Zi, "Give Fourth Madam a bowl of goat's milk."

Wei Zi responded and went to bring the goat's milk.

Eleventh Lady thanked him and drank it despite the fishy smell.

The lady looked at him and laughed, "You southerners are not used to this, but it nourishes people." She then instructed Mother Du, "Send her a bowl every morning from now on."

Mother Du agreed with a smile.

Eleventh Lady took the list and gave it to the Madam: "Please help me take a look and see if it is appropriate or not!"

The lady looked at the words with some surprise in her eyes and said with a smile: "This is well written!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "My husband always said that I was not pretty enough before, but I didn't expect to get praise from my mother."

"You wrote it!" The lady was even more surprised.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "It's not well written. I will find time to practice more in the future."

The lady was silent for a long while, then suddenly said, "Please make me a pair of underwear!"

Now it was Eleventh Lady's turn to be surprised, but she was also pleasantly surprised.

Making underwear...

Does this mean that the mother-in-law has begun to accept her as a daughter-in-law?

She smiled and agreed, then measured the lady's size with her hands, asked what kind of cloth she liked to wear, asked Amber to go to the warehouse to get the material, and went back to the house to sprinkle powder, cut clothes, and burn irons.

Xu Lingyi came back somewhat surprised: "What are you doing?"

Eleventh Lady smiled and called Chunmo in to help him change his clothes: "Make some small things for me."

Xu Lingyi glanced at her face a few times, said "Oh", and went into the bathroom.

The lady on the other side told Madam Du: "Find out the two pairs of shoes embroidered with the word 'Fu'."

Mother Du, Wei Zi and Yao Huang searched for quarter of an hour in the side room where boxes and cages were kept before they found it.

The lady walked around in it and said, "It fits me well!"

Mother Du couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh: "Didn't you say these shoes are fancy?"

The lady said with some disapproval: "I am old now, and it is common for me to repeat myself over and over again."

Mother Du couldn't help but laugh.